10th May 2005 07:00
NCC Group PLC10 May 2005 NCC Group PLC Year end trading update NCC Group plc, a leading independent provider of IT assurance, security andconsultancy services, is publishing today a trading update covering the periodsince the Group announced its interim results on 25 January 2005. The Group'syear end is 31 May 2005. The Group's overall trading performance during the second half of the year hasbeen good with revenue, profit and cash generation in line with the Board'sexpectations. The Board's expectations for the Group's rate of progress remainunchanged in the next financial year. Renewals in the Group's core division, Escrow Solutions, continued in line withexpectations with the price rises implemented in November 2004 as usualimproving the Group's operating margins in the second half of the financialyear. Annual renewals for the 2005/2006 financial year are expected to be £6.7million up from the £5.7 million forecast for this financial year, with thenumber of beneficiaries to NCC Group escrow agreements now over 10,700, up from10,300 in January. The Escrow Sales team has increased in size by 13% since January to 60 people.Board expectations for contract terminations continue to be bettered byremaining below 11% against the planned for rate of 13%. The CopyrightProtection Escrow service was successfully launched in April. The Testing Solutions Division order book continues to develop and now stands at£1.3 million in line with the Board's expectations. The Penetration Testingunit has continued to grow strongly and now has annualised turnover of over £2.5million, as demand for high quality independent vulnerability testing increases,for both externally and internally facing infrastructure and applications withinorganisations. The Consultancy Division's order book continues to develop and now stands at£1.6 million. The Consultancy unit, which has increased its number ofchargeable consultants by 9% since January, is particularly benefiting from itsposition as an independent trusted advisor in the BPO (Business ProcessingOutsourcing) sector and sees good growth prospects in this area. The Group continues to generate cash with net debt falling sharply. The Boardexpects the Group to be almost debt free at the end of the financial year, downfrom £3.1 million of net debt as at 30 November 2004. The Group expects to report its preliminary results for the year to 31 May 2005in mid-July 2005. 10 May 2005 Enquiries: NCC Group (www.nccgroup.com) 0161 209 5432 Rob Cotton, Chief Executive Paul Edwards, Group Finance Director College Hill Adrian Duffield/Clare Warren 020 7457 2815/2055 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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